Doctors\u2019 Association UK (DAUK) has co-signed a letter to Andy Burnham urging him to scrap the UK-US pharma deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DAUK is part of SOS NHS Coalition of health organisations and unions which has written to the prospective prime minister urging him to secure the long-term future of the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter, which has been featured in the Guardian<\/a>, also asks Burnham to meet members of the coalition to listen to their experiences of the NHS and social care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, DAUK GP co-lead Dr Steve Taylor has contributed to an article exploring \u2018a surge in portfolio working\u2019 among GPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GP Online has reported that two-thirds of UK doctors have portfolio careers<\/a>, which combine clinical work with work in other areas such as teaching and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Taylor said: \u201cThere’s the element of underemployed and unemployed GPs \u2013 many have been forced to look for alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s also the case that the intensity of working five days a week in NHS general practice is too high.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Taylor also provided comment to GP Online on its report that half of GP workforce growth in the last financial year came from jobs created through the additional roles reimbursement scheme<\/a> (ARRS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said: \u201cThere needs to be a rebalancing of the workforce, because we’ve been under-employing GPs for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsewhere, Dr Taylor welcomed new NHS England guidance<\/a> for planned patient care which sets out what patients and carers should expect when patients are referred for non-urgent NHS care as \u2018a step in the right direction\u2019 but said it \u2018doesn\u2019t go far enough\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnderemployed and unemployed GPs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Workforce rebalancing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n